Nothing to Contribute, but Everything to Learn

I think I've thought of another reason McCain is so eager to stop campaigning. I haven't heard anybody talk about his opportunity to learn about a critical issue in this campaign.

Think about it from a self proclaimed economic amateur's point of view. What do you do when you don't know much about the economy and you don't really know how the government does (or is supposed to) react to a financial crisis? What do you do when there is a sudden crisis in the economy and all of the questions you get asked on the campaign trail involve something you "know very little about"? When that crisis door opens and you realize you are falling in the polls because you have no good answers to any economic questions, you insist on postponing your beatings to go back to school. Where better to learn of the current crisis than in the negotiating rooms during the crisis? Even if you don't contribute to the discussion, you can finally have something to say to those pesky reporters who insist on doing their jobs.

John McCain is not just trying to avoid this week's debate on Foreign Policy, he knows the main focus of the debate will be on the economy. He knows he is lacking in both experience and wisdom on this issue and going to Washington to sit in on the conversation is his best opportunity for a cramming session before the big exam.

Open Letter to Barack Obama

Here's a letter from the MOMocrats that I think everyone needs to read and spread. This is some of the letter:

Here's what I want you to do:I want you to fight. back. I am giving you permission to get. angry. I want to hear you say, "Enough is enough!" every time you speak. I want you to take on their cynical, half-truth-ridden, insulting-to-all-American-citizens campaign and wrestle it to the ground.

I haven't been writing for a while, but I need to get this out. If you are fed up with the calm, cool, and collected Barack Obama and wish he would throw down the gloves and get angry about the negative campaigning and outright lies of the McPalin ticket, digg this. Blog this. Email this. Comment anywhere you can. Get this letter out so that hopefully things start changing in this campaign so that this can change in this country.I used to be just obsessed with this election season, but now I'm pissed. I'm sick and tired of the lies and the fake controversies.

read more | digg story

Happy 4th of July

These girls are called The Cactus Cuties. They sang the national anthem at the Texas Tech-Baylor game Mar. 8, 2008 at the United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, TX. One of the girls is 8 years old, one is 13 and the other three are 11.

The whole thing is amazing, but pay attention to the end. The crowd remains silent all the way through the end of the national anthem, which tells you just how well these girls can sing.

The Ironic Karl Rove

Karl Rove, in one ironic sound bite, displayed so much of what is bad about politics and the political elite. From an ABC News blogger:

ABC News' Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as "coolly arrogant."

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," Rove said, per Christianne Klein. "He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

Let's disect this, shall we.

Karl Rove must position himself as an elitist to make such a comment about a political rival. He "knows this guy" from the country club because is a country club regular. He was the mastermind behind turning a retarded golf buddy into the regular Joe president that every flag carrying American can relate to, which, for a while gave him the elevated status as a political guru.

Also, doesn't his characterization of Obama as arrogant constitute making "snide comments"? If this statement was an attempt to make someone who sits in the corner criticizing people look like an arrogant elitist, doesn't that make Rove himself an arrogant elitist.

As a denegration of another person's character, Rove sure succeeded in denegrating himself in the process. Without giving examples of Obama's actual behavior, Rove has also demonstrated perfectly what it means to project.

From wikipedia.org:

Common definitions (of projection)

* "Projection is the opposite defense mechanism to identification. We project our own unpleasant feelings onto someone else and blame them for having thoughts that we really have."
* "A defense mechanism in which the individual attributes to other people impulses and traits that he himself has but cannot accept. It is especially likely to occur when the person lacks insight into his own impulses and traits."
* "Attributing one's own undesirable traits to other people or agencies."
* "The individual perceives in others the motive he denies having himself. Thus the cheat is sure that everyone else is dishonest."
* "People attribute their own undesirable traits onto others."
* "An individual who possesses malicious characteristics, but who is unwilling to perceive himself as an antagonist, convinces himself that his opponent feels and would act the same way."

The quote makes more sense when you imagine Karl Rove talking about himself in an autobiography:

"Even if you never met [me], you know [me]. [I'm] the guy at the country club [without] the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

Mojoey's Atheist Blogroll

If you are always looking for more atheism blogs to read, an excellent source (beisdes my own blogroll) comes from Mojoey on Deep Thoughts. If you would like to join it yourself, jump over to there to read the rules and send him an email to request to be on it.

While you're at it, let me know about your blog and I'll link to you if I think you're worthy.

Let the meme begin

I haven't posted in a while, but I figured a good way to come back is to try and help spblat spread the word fogpie around the internet.

Spblat invented the word and I made up a definition using the context from the sentence he had used it in. I'm interested to see where this goes and I hope it starts getting used in everyday internet debates. I envision it being used in a situation where someone is trying to stifle debate by being intentionally verbose or confusing. For further explaination, see our discussion of what to do with the domain.

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Stop S.Res.483

If you care about the First Amendment or the idea that your elected officials are wasting their time and your money on ways to violate it, then you need to write to your US Senators right now.

Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. John Kerry have both recieved this from me:

As you probably are aware, S.Res.483 is "a resolution recognizing the first weekend of May 2008 as 'Ten Commandments Weekend'." As you are also probably aware, this type of thing is a violation of the First Amendment.

In case you didn't know the First Amendment states "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof [...]" I don't know how it can be any more clear. Promoting the Ten Commandments (of which only 2 or three are actually laws, depending on interpretation) is a blatant example of "respecting an establishment of religion". Of the 2 or 3 commandments that are actually against the law, none of them are unique to the US or Christianity. Of the 7 or 8 that are not laws, all of them are irrelavant to our system of government. By the way, the commandment that is not clear is "Thou shall not bear false witness" and this only really applies in a court of law, and not is not something the average person can be arrested for.

I am a registered Democrat in the State of Massachusetts and I can assure you that I will not be voting for you if you vote to approve this resolution. One of the basic tenants of this county is freedom of religion, which also includes freedom FROM religion. I don't want my country even considering recognizing any particular religion as more important than another, especially since more and more people are turning away from the religion of their childhood.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:SE00483:@@@L&summ2=m&
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-religion26feb26,0,4582086.story